To her great surprise it was a fairy. An adult one, dressed in a pink flowing dress, rather elaborate and very beautiful, yet with the telltale butterfly wings and a wand. She had wavy blond hair and she did look kind.
"Oh, let me remedy to that," she said.
With a wave of her wand, she made a dress and shoes appear upon tChristina's body. The dress was green and woollen, with an apron and the shoes were made of leather and tied with simple sturdy string. Simple but it covered her modesty and it served the purpose well. And it was a fairy tale realm, obviously, so it must fit with the current fashions of the place.
"Thank you," said Christina gratefully.
"Of course," said the fairy. "But where do you come from?"
"Well, the world I came from had no magic. Or rather, I thought so."
"You're from the human world! Of course!"
The fairy's face lit up. Christina explained her story and as she went through it truthfully. As her tale unfolded, the fairy looked increasingly distraught. When Christina was done, she exclaimed:
"It is awful! Poor thing! To become the victim of witches like that! I know good witches but when they are bad, they are so to the very core. Witches are able to go in the human world and here so some have fun in truly wicked ways. You did nothing wrong. You are completely innocent in this affair."
"Could you help me with a wish? Or a spell? Or magic? I'm really worried about James."
"I could, but..."
"But what?" asked Christina, startled.
"A wish involves a lot of magic but very, very little control. Fairies, and genies, for that matter, bring forth the magic but like an overflowing river, the magic will impose its own rules and terms. For example, a lustful man might ask for a woman's body, only to find himself transformed into a woman instead of getting the perfect female for intercourse as he hoped. Likewise, a man asking to run as fast as a horse might find himself transformed into a rapid steed and not acquire just its speed. We unleash the magic, but the way it accomplishes itself is up to its own rules."
"But if I do nothing..." started Christina tearfully.
"You could stay here. It's not a bad world," softly tried to console her the fairy.
"No! Please! If it's possible, let me make a wish! I'll take the consequences and won't blame you if it goes wrong! I beg of you!"
"I warned you, young lady, the effects are unpredictable and..."
"I cannot let James in this plight here is in! And I cannot leave other people to become victims of these hags! I have to try, if only for them!"
"I hear you but..." started the fairy.
"Other people's lives are at stake! You must understand this! Just a wish to bring these three witches down. Please!"
"Well... I can grant you a wish on the grounds that you have just stumbled into another world and you've been an unfortunate victim of these witches, you and your friend that is a boy still in the clutches of these vile women. But the consequences..."
"I know but please!"
"Very well. I'll try to help you through the consequences," sighed the fairy.
"I wish for revenge! No matter how long it might take, I wish to destroy Hilda, Gilda and Matilda, to make them the most unhappy in the world and to rescue James and any other poor victims of theirs. I wish to bring them down completely and in the most humiliating manner!"
"As you wish," the fairy said, waving her wand that started to shine.
For the second time, a blast of pure magic went through Christina's body.